The present invention relates generally to data communications. More particularly, the present invention relates to a wireless multicast proxy.
Wireless local-area networks (WLANs) are increasingly popular for distributing data within the home. Furthermore, broadband Internet media delivery services are becoming increasingly popular in the home. Many of these services, such as Internet Protocol Television (IPTV), use multicast packets for transport of the media data. However, because multicast packets are not acknowledged in a WLAN, the multicast packets are subject to a high error rate. This high error rate significantly reduces the quality of the media, and so renders WLANs unsuitable for distributing multicast packets of media.